Crew Magellan

Commemorating The ***th Anniversary Of Magellan's Circumnavigation. The Discovery Age And The Dawn Of Colonialism.

Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the planet beginning from Spain in 1519. Was an absolute marvel of engineering and human ingenuity, The feat was no less than extraordinary for his time, or anytime. He was the first man to attempt this endeavor. along with the brilliance of Juan Elcano they sailed across completely uncharted, blank spaces on the map. As well as traversing the vastest of oceans. Encompassing lands completely unknown to any outsider. In vessels we would today consider simple, primitive wooden ships. With no more than a mast, sail, wooden hull, and rudimentary rudder. Combined with no more than knowledge of the stars and a crude compass to guide them from east, south, west and north. They would not have the luxury of a weather spotting radar. Or communicating by radio. Or sending distress signals for help if the ship sank. Instead their lives would depend on top level seafaring skills, coming from years of experience charting the high seas, in and around the Mediterranean. Magellan himself had also nautically surveyed southern portions of Africa and India. Ferdinand Magellan was one of the most bravura mariners of all time. He used these skills he acquired at sea to spot tiny specs of land on the horizon and also evaded bad weather conditions. He was quite the nautical genius. Though very rash, ruthless and down right evil in his ways.

Off into the wild blue yonder.Ferdinand Magellan, was a man hailing from Portugal but worked with the Spanish crown. Like Columbus before him. (also a man of unimaginable cruelty that doesn't need to be celebrated.)He had pleaded with the royal courts of his native country numerous times. Only to be turned down time, and time again. So mired by failure to reach through to an accord with the royal courts of Portugal. Magellan left his own country, and renounced his Portuguese citizenship in an act of distain. He next sought to start the voyage under the banner of a country he knew would be most likely to fulfill his needs for an expedition westward. The long voyage Magellan planned would go either through or around the Americas. The country he thought would help him get the job done was none other than Spain. It was the obvious best choice to endorse the voyage. Spain was the emerging power house of all the European kingdoms, and the world soon to be. Spain during this time was gorging itself, and exploiting the riches and resources from the civilization's and tribes of the New World. In the most inhumane and barbaric ways imaginable. These lands included South America, the Caribbean and central America. In order to reach the fabled spice islands of Indonesia or mainland southeast Asia. Magellan needed to find some sort of gap through or around the Americas. An opening in which to reach the riches of the orient as fast as possible. (Keep in mind the Panama Canal would obviously not exist for another 400 years). So anyone in the world who wanted to go from Europe to Asia in the most efficient time would have been left hopelessly in the dark. A trail would have to be blazed and Magellan planned to do just that. Like other explorers before and after him he was most likely seeking the "northwest passage". a myth of sorts that eluded all European explorers. But Magellan instead discovered a southwest passage. Through the southern tips of Argentina and Chile. Where the Atlantic meets the Antarctic Ocean and gives way to the Pacific.

Portrait of Ferdinand Magellan.To be granted a fleet for an expedition westward, all Ferdinand Magellan had to do was seek an audience with the King of Spain, Charles the I. The case he pleaded to King Charles was very practical and to the point. His exact words are not known but he basically intended to accomplish what Columbus failed to do. Which is to find the fastest route to Asia and back. Via past the Americas. Magellan told the king if he could not find a way past the Americas then he would simply find a way around the southern tip of Africa and past India instead. (We now know by looking at a world map that the latter would have been the fastest option.) King Charles I could have never refused such an offer. How could he? Regardless of how dangerous and audacious this feat would be. It was very well worth the trouble for King Charles I. If Magellan succeeded King Charles would have everything to gain and nothing to lose. But what resulted was something much more astonishing than Magellan and his Spanish comrades could have hoped for. Instead of just stumbling across east Asia.(Which is a monumental feat in its own right). Magellan and his crew would accomplish something on a much grander scope. They didn't realize the first circumnavigation of our globe was about to take place. Again like Christopher Columbus before him he would accidentally end up achieving more than he bargained for. As Columbus back in 1492 had ventured deep into the Atlantic Ocean. A risky mission to uncover a faster route to the riches of Asia. Instead he accidently stumbled across two whole "new" continents completely unknown to the outside world. Magellan's plan was to seek the lucrative trade (and ruthlessly exploit) the lands of China, Indonesia and India. Magellan sought the real Asia and wanted to succeed where Columbus had failed. But at least a large majority of the Asian continent's presence was known by Europeans and other parts of the old world. To everyone living outside of the Americas, the North and South American continents didn't even exist in their minds. To Europeans, It was the giant void near the ledge of the world; filled with sea monsters and boiling hot water. Some at the time even thought if you sailed too far you'd fall right off the world into oblivion. This is probably why Columbus had a hard time convincing any European country to finance his voyage as well.

A crude, medieval map.When Columbus made landfall in the Americas, he had very naively believed the Caribbean Islands, South and Central America were just parts of the enormous continent of Asia. He was so sure of it that he even went to his death bed refusing to accept that it was a whole new world entirely. Unknown to anyone else except the people who had already been living there for roughly 30,000 years. Amerigo Vespucci, a fellow Italian explorer who landed in Brazil. Had taken notice the people living there, and the land itself did not fit the mold of what they knew to be Asiatic. Amerigo Vespucci was the first explorer to acknowledge these fresh "new" lands as two "lost continents". So cartographer's were at a disagreement of what to call this massive place. But as time elapsed the enigmatic and romanticized name "The New World" was used less and less. Map makers officially declared the western hemisphere as the 'Americas'. Named After Amerigo, not Columbus.

Magellan's undertaking was going to be much more perilous than he or anyone sailing alongside him could have ever imagined. None of them at the time realized just how far Asia actually was through this unknown route they were bound on. Let alone the distance of circling the entire planet by ocean. Mere wind power pushing the sails of a caravel would be the fastest way of travel for the next 340 years or so. They would all have to improvise greatly in order to survive and make the journey back home to Spain. They would end up lost on the far side of the world and end up braving perilous storms, weeks out alone on open ocean, and rightfully resentful natives. Aiming to take vengeance against them. The way back alive would take enduring grit, keen wit and of course sheer will power.

With King Charles' blessing Magellan and his flotilla disembarked from Spain on September 20 1519. The fleet would end up rounding the entire planet. First stopping in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands and the Azores islands were both used as rest stops. As well as satellite/staging points to prepare for the long arduous journey across the Atlantic to the New World. At the time the Canary Islands were home to an indigenous people the Spanish called the Guanches. What the Guanches called themselves is unclear and has been lost to history. For "Guanches" is a Spanish name. However even in the time of Magellan the occupation of the Spanish had taken its toll on this unique race of people. Very tragically they are now an extinct race because of the reckless evil ambitions of the Spanish. They were incorporated into the slave trade and they ended up dying from European diseases. The treatment of these harmonious people at the hands of the Spanish conquistadores was appalling to say the least. The Spanish and Portuguese had run amuck in these Islands since the later half of the 1400's. It would be a tragic foreshadowing of what would happen to the Taino people of the Caribbean Islands. What these ill fated mysterious people also looked liked is not quite clear either. According to many accounts they were Arab like in their facial structure and hair, but also the only people on earth other than native Americans who had a rosy red complexion. They would sometimes even have blonde hair as well. The Guanches were most likely close genetic cousins of the Berber peoples of north west Africa. But on a more joyous note there are still decent traces of their bloodline, culture, language and music in the people of the Canary Islands today.

An artists renditioning of how the Guanches might have appeared.Magellan puts down a munity of the coast of Patagonia.The next stop was Brazil. Then down the uncharted southern coastline of South America. They made landfall In Samborombon Bay. Near what would later become the City of Buenos Aires in the Argentine/ Uruguayan region. Magellan and his crew attempted to sail up a river they called Rio de la Plata. (Translates to river of silver in Spanish). Magellan falsely believed this river would cut straight through South America and into the Pacific Ocean. This was not possible because South America was by far larger than he had hoped. Also the river was fresh water and only got smaller as they attempted to sail up stream. Meaning there is no possible way it led to the Pacific Ocean. Magellan and his crew disembarked the ships and ventured on land. To forage and take advantage of resources or food. But were ambushed and attacked by what they proclaimed were a cannibalistic tribe of head hunting Indians. They hightailed it back to their ships; as the thought of becoming a shrunken head trophy discouraged any further involvement in the area. Magellan's fleet abandoned the strange land and continued to head further south. Meanwhile a mutiny was brewing in his midst. One of the pilots of Magellan's fleet, a man by the name of Juan de Cartagena, did not want any further hostilities with cannibal natives. He was also very resentful of having to be under the command of a Portuguese man, right from the start. Juan would frequently criticize Magellan and bicker with him the entire voyage. Despite Portugal indeed being Spain's next door neighbor, the two nations were beginning to become bitter colonial rivals. Quarreling like vultures over the bounty of new lands, riches and slaves. So Juan de Cartagena did what he wanted to do from the very start of the voyage. He antagonized a coup against Magellan. The majority of the crew still sided with Magellan and they were able to put Juan's munity down by force. To make an example out of the mutineers, and exact revenge Magellan hung the ring leaders. Another man was thrown overboard, merely for suspicion of being a sodomite. As for Juan de Cartagena himself. Magellan left him deserted in Argentina. A land so alien to him he might as well have been stranded on the surface of the moon. No one knows what happened to him. due to the Spaniards brutal nature towards the natives of any "new" country they landed in during that time. He was more than likely killed by Indians or died of exposure. With no way home his chances of survival were obviously null. Such was the fate of any Spaniard stranded in the New World. As the nearest Spaniards were more than 4,000 miles away in the Caribbean and Mexico, battling the Aztecs. The Portuguese colonies were in brazil. But very small, unorganized, few and far between.

The scene of a bloody Aztec sacrifice. The Aztecs would rip out the still beating hearts of their enemies. Then offer it to the sun as substance. In order to keep the suns light from extinguishing. Oddly enough in the minds of the Aztecs they felt justified by these gruesome acts. As they believed they were saving the world by doing this. They sometimes even flayed their enemies alive and wore their skin as a trophy and had cannibalistic tendencies. Though ironically at the same time the Aztecs were a highly advanced civilization. That dwarfed European building skills, farming and hygiene practices.The year was now 1520 and coincidentally that same year Hernan Cortez was in Mexico. He was Perhaps the greatest of all the Conquistador's. Hernan Cortez's conflict with the great Aztec Empire was reaching its zenith. Cortez, along with his men, and of course a large amount of invested help from Native American warriors; who hated their Aztec oppressors, got the job done. Add the biggest trunk card of all, smallpox and infectious European diseases to the mix and the fall of all centralized Native American civilizations was unavoidable. Smallpox would tragically decimate Native American populations by the millions. Also the Aztecs as ferocious and warlike as they were, were a very overly zealous, fanatical bunch. Too much for their own good. Because superstition and misguidance from their high priests was forcing the warriors to fight a very impractical style of warfare. Instead of killing your enemy you had to maim or wound them. Then drag them all the way back to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan for sacrifice. To appease the sun god, Huitzilopochtli. So the sun would not leave, and the world would not wither out and die. Aztecs called This ritualized, indirect style of fighting "The Fruitful War". In fact killing your enemy instead of capturing them was very frowned upon by the Aztecs; oddly enough. The Aztecs viewed lethality on the battlefield as clumsy rather than practical and effective. The Spanish knights were armored with solid steel from head to toe. Essentially making them human tanks on horseback. Even The horses themselves were encased in metal armor. The open dry valleys and plateaus of the Mexican highlands were also perfectly suited for horse mobility. Aztec warriors were at a great disposition as they possessed no horses. They fought solely on foot, With weapons of stone, wood and obsidian. With their only intent being to injure and take the Spanish back to Tenochtitlan for sacrifice. Which made battling the Spaniards a recipe for disaster. The Aztecs were a military dictatorship/ theocracy where the rulers were viewed as demigods. similar to the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. So they would never question the orders of their priests. Had the Aztecs been fighting a direct war of total annihilation they would have easily wiped out the Spanish invaders, doubled with their newfound native allies, with or without smallpox even. The valley of Mexico at the time was home to an estimated 20 million people, the second most densely populated region on Earth at the time outside of China. With no shortage of warriors until smallpox and measles hit. Sadly this is how all the American civilizations fell like dominos to the Spanish.

A very sinister looking Aztec Jaguar Warrior. Locked in combat, is victorious over a slain conquistador.The next stop For Ferdinand Magellan's voyage was the bottommost tip of South America ( now called the straits of Magellan, named after him.) The very exotic breathtaking land was also given the name Tierra del Fuego; meaning "Earth of fire" in Spanish. It was a land of stark contrasts. With large looming, ominous glaciers, towering out of the sea. Frozen inlets and islands everywhere like broken shards of glass scattered over the ocean shores. It was also Dotted with the occasional active volcano and many rigged mountains. Tierra del Fuego was really a land of both fire and ice. However the reason the Spanish named the place Tierra del Fuego is actually very mundane. Magellan's crew simply saw a large amount of bonfires lit by Native Americas on shore. The men in Magellan's crew must have truly thought they fell off the ledge of the world and trekked into an unknown place lost to time. Tierra del Fuego's geography was much more divergent than anything they had experienced prior. They were also unknowingly at the bottom of the world. Magellan and his crew were completely oblivious to the fact that they were right on the doorstep of a completely unknown continent. Later to be named Antarctica. However The honor of that discovery would not go to Magellan.

As you can see the scenery at Patagonia is quite breathtaking.This newfound region had many names. The Spanish also called it 'Patagonia' which translates to "land of the giant feet" in Spanish. Named after the indigenous people who inhabited it. They are now a grievously endangered race of people who are usually referred to as "Fuegian Indians". Magellan and his crew took some time to rest at the bottom of the world and actually established good relations with the Natives for once. Fuegian Indian men were behemoths who stood an average of 6'5. Their toughness and resilience to frigid weather was remarkable. They would harpoon hunt dangerous animals on foot such as sea lions, and even plunge into freezing waters after their prey. Barefooted and wearing nothing but a loincloth. The sub zero waters would have surely killed anyone else. But the Fuegian Indians built up a tolerance to these extreme conditions. Not only from a lifetime, but generations of living in such a harsh climate .

In this depiction an artist grossly exaggerates how tall Fuegian Indians are.Magellan's crew departed to ride the waves once more. West into a vaguely known ocean, the Pacific. He was aware that he was only a stone's throw away from it during the rest stop in Patagonia. However after the long well needed rest another munity was brewing in his midst. Various crewmen were very aggravated that they had journeyed so far and found nothing. they felt cheated and lied to by Magellan. The cruise had taken far too long and several of the sailor's refused to go any further. One of the five ships from his fleet named San Antonio was laden full of much needed supplies along with a big chunk of the crew. They deserted the rest of the fleet and went back to Spain. Which still left Magellan with the more loyal ambitious members of his crew. Plus the most seaworthy ships consisting of the flag ship La Trinidad; Alongside Victoria, Concepcion and Santiago. were all much better suited for the reminder of the journey. However the men who turned back were the lucky ones. The worst part of the journey was about to commence.

This oil painting gives an accurate depiction of what sailing near the Antarctic, and through the straits of Magellan would have looked like.The Spanish called the unexplored ocean the Pacific. As it was so passive and calm. compared to the waters of the icy north Atlantic, cape of storms (South Africa) and the hurricane filled Caribbean sea. but Magellan nor his crew had any idea just how huge this ocean was. They were about to sail for months over the deepest of waters. The Pacific is by far the largest ocean in the world. Such an unfathomable distance caused many crewmen to die of starvation, exposure, dehydration and scurvy. After months of wandering they finally made landfall in what is now Guam. In their desperation they even tried to shoot down birds flying nearby for food.

There is actually some new scholarly debate that the island Magellan and his crew landed on was actually Rota. Not Guam. As the description the sailors gave on the layout of the island had much more in common with the features and shoreline of Rota then Guam. Although the Spanish were very exhausted, emaciated and disoriented when they found the island. So the information they provided might not be very accurate. regardless, Magellan's crew resupplied on the island. As they were beginning to depart they were followed very closely by fast moving, nimble Polynesian vessels with small sails. It shocked the Spaniards to see what they thought were primitive natives with such fast reliable boats and sail technology. One Spaniard later wrote " the boats were so fast they seemed like they were nearly flying off the water.'' The boats were piloted by the Chamorro tribesmen. Now we don't have any accounts of what was going on in the Chamorro's minds. When they saw the strange, very large cumbersome Spanish ships. So we really just have to use our imagination. They may have thought them to be some type of other worldly beings. Riding a strange sea monster. Or they might have believed the Spaniards themselves riding their caravels were gods. The Chamorro might have just wanted to come take a closer look out of curiosity? Or they might have just simply wanted to attack and board the Spanish ships. Whatever the reason they began to follow the Spanish very closely. They were more than likely just intrigued by what they were seeing, and wanted to take in the sights. Enjoy something they've never seen before. Regardless they followed the fleet far too long for Magellan's comfort, and got too close. So Magellan ordered his crew to fire a broadside of their guns and cannons to scare them off. The Chamorro like the Native Americans had never seen or heard of gunpowder before. Broadsides fired from the cannons on a ship are very loud and powerful. They will shake the sea and sky around it, coupled by a large plume of smoke. This horrified the Chamorro natives. At this point they more than likely believed the carrack to be a demonic sea dragon. Or the Spanish to be some type of malevolent evil beings. (The Chamorro would be at least half right to assume the latter.) They took flight across the surf and went back to their care free tropical island paradise.

A typical Polynesian vessel.In actuality the Polynesians were the best mariners of all time. Who do not get their fair share of credit as seafarers. They were second to none at traveling by way of water. Better than Columbus or Magellan. The Polynesian peoples were able to locate the tiniest of islands dotted throughout the vastest stretch of space on Earth, the Pacific. With no compass either. They did not merely just survive; or live a meager existence in the Pacific as the Spanish did. But they thrived on these lush tropical islands. They were also the first outsiders to discover South America. Polynesians landed in Peru and Ecuador several hundred years before even the Vikings landed in North America, roughly in 1000 AD.

After Frightening the natives, restocking, resupplying and gaining their sanity by walking on land, after months of meandering at sea. The Spanish once again began Island hopping. They sailed past the Mariana Islands and sighted yet another unknown Island chain on the horizon. The Philippine Archipelago. It was an absolute tropical paradise just like Rota or Guam in the Mariana Islands but on a grander scale. A natural gem hidden in the west Pacific. However Magellan and his crew were not the first outsiders to land here. They were merely just the first Europeans. Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians and even a few Islamic merchant's had landed in the Philippines prior to Ferdinand Magellan. Islamic merchants were introducing their religion to Indonesia. Later, Islam would take a presence in the Philippines. However with the coming of the Spanish. Catholicism would emerge as the dominant religion of the Philippines. Indonesian converts to Islam and Arab merchant's had even established several harbors on a few Philippine Islands as recently as 20 years before Magellan. However Magellan still gets all the credit for "discovering" the Philippine Island chains.

A Filipino warrior takes in the view from a high vantage point atop a cliff. To witness an ominous and eerie sight.Magellan and his crew docked on the Island of Cebu. Where he met a local chieftain by the name of Rajah Humabon. The chieftain was a convert to Islam himself, from his native religion. But when Magellan met Rajah he "befriended" him. because he was the most powerful chief on the Island. Magellan wanted to use him for his own selfish reasons, as a way to gain muscle and leverage in the new found region. They were able to communicate by way of Magellan's Malaysian slave who now acted as a translator for the crew. Magellan had brought the slave from the start of the voyage. Magellan obtained him from his prior journeys to India. Since Magellan's slave hailed from Malaysia, a country of close proximity to the Philippines. He spoke Tagalog, the native Philippine language. Common sense told Magellan that he was now very near to the orient.

Magellan went on to convert Rajah Humabon to Christianity. Then renamed him with a Christianized Spanish name, Don Carlos. Magellan, just like Columbus before him. Believed that all people who did not submit to or convert to Christianly should be either exterminated or damned to hell. Both explorers also maliciously used the kind nature of native peoples against them wherever they went. Both Magellan and Columbus shared many of the same deplorable characteristics.

The Philippine native tribe underneath the banner of newly named Don Carlos held a celebration. During the festivities there was tribal music, eating, singing and dancing. Don Carlos spoke to Magellan of his rival chieftain named Lapulapu on the Island of Mactan. Whom he disdained, and promised to give Magellan anything he wanted in return for defeating him. Magellan was now convinced he could be the new supreme ruler of the Philippine Islands. He now sought to do just what many conquistadors had done to the regions they "discovered" before him (as well as after) and that is conquer. Magellan led a group of 60 men fully armored in steel and armed to the teeth to attack Lapulapu's village. They stuck hard and mercilessly, killing and burning everything in their path. But Magellan and his men had severely underestimated the Philippine natives. As the Spanish began to torch more houses a large number of native warriors rushed at them from their huts, and the jungle around them. They were not numerous at first but many began to accumulate in the thick of the fighting. Once the full force of the Filipinos descended on the Spanish they might have numbered over 1000 men. The Spaniards were armored head to toe with steel; protecting them from the brunt of the native onslaught. The Filipinos used slings, spears, throwing harpoons, bows and arrows relentlessly against the armored Europeans. Due to the protection the Spaniards armor gave them. The Filipinos brazenly rushed at Magellan and his men with such fervor that they brawled up close, tackling them to the ground, and ripping their helmets off to expose a kill strike. Hopelessly outnumbered, Magellan and his men took flight back to the beach to escape on their ships. The Filipinos hunted them down the whole way. The fighting reached its climax on the beach. The Filipinos continued to rush at Magellan and his men with such tenacity and resolve, that they would hurl a spear at the armored conquistadores with no effect. But picked the same spear back up, rushed at them repeatedly with no quit in them and continued to throw the same spear again, and again. Many times in a row. The superior athleticism of the Filipinos must have been very demoralizing to Magellan and his men. Some of the Spanish managed to escape to their life boats docked on the beach. Then hightailed it back to the main ships. but the natives hadn't had enough yet. They even swam after the Spanish to wipe them all out. Merely driving them off wasn't enough. They wanted to utterly exterminate all of the Spanish. To make sure these wicked men could never return to their shores, to harm their children and women again. The main ships began to fire their cannons to discourage the Filipinos from getting any closer. But stilled the bombardment, for fear of friendly fire. The Filipinos finally gave up the chase and waded back to the beach. Magellan and a few others escaped. However Magellan would not escape with his life. Ferdinand Magellan was hit in the leg. In an area where his armor was not tightly fit and exposed his skin. The arrow that struck Magellan was dipped in poison. He managed to escape back to the ship on the life raft with his men. But the poison was fast acting and he died shortly after making it back onboard. The small Spanish fleet licked their wounds and left Mactan, then made course back to Cebu.

The native warriors in this dramatic picture, have much more in resemble to Native Americans then Filipinos. This might have been due to the sheer ignorance, and downright laziness of Spanish chroniclers. In fact any new land that Europeans "discovered" they would call the people there "Indians." Even when the Europeans knew the people weren't south Asian or Native American. At first, conquistadors referred to Filipinos as "Indians." More then 200 years later when the British landed in Australia for the first time; they also briefly called the aborigines' inhabitants "Indians." It seemed to be Spanish and European policy to butcher and miss name new lands and people that they stumbled upon.The newly Christianized Chief Don Carlos; formerly Rajah Humabon. Was very disheartened to hear of Ferdinand Magellan's death. According to many accounts he actually viewed Magellan as a real friend. More than likely only due to the

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